The Pirates are looking to compete in 2012, president Frank Coonelly told Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Coonelly says the team's focus has shifted to improving the Major League club. Payroll is expected to be up from last year's $42MM mark; I have them pegged for about that amount already before accounting for minimum salary players or future additions. Coonelly indicated that once the Pirates reach the point of having one glaring need, they're more likely to pursue an expensive impact free agent. Click here to read Coonelly's full comments.

I think Oswalt makes a lot of sense for both sides. Without Fielder or Pujols, the NL Central is a great spot for Oswalt to rebuild his value on a one year deal, and he could bring in some prospects for the Pirates at the deadline.

Oswalt: My main focus is to be on a competing team.
Agent: How about them Pirates????
Oswalt: No but seriously…..
Agent: Come on man……they already gave me free stuff. Work with me here.
Oswalt: No seriously….return the Ipad I’m not going.
Agent: My bad. Done. Its in the mail. You won’t hear another word about them.
Oswalt: Its ok ill get you one.
Agent: Ok the usual then?
Oswalt: Competitors you know Sox, Rangers, Yanks, Reds, Marlins, Angels, Cleve, Tigers, Brewers, Cards, and Arizona.
Agent: Mets?
Oswalt: Please stop.
Agent: Ok Ok!

The more I think about it, it DOES make sense for Oswalt to sign with the Pirates. Mid season if he puts up good numbers, he’ll be traded to a contender for some prospects. A win-win all the way around. Oswalt plays for a winning team and the Pirates continue their rebuilding process.

That won’t happen. Wandy is expensive on 2 levels. He has a large salary and requires a large return. At this point I could see the Pirates spending big money rather than sending a large group of prospects away.

the pirates would prefer a 1 or 2 year deal for a starting pitcher, which means no prospects to trade… im all for trading prospects, but maybe wait until the trade deadline to see if we’re in the race or not.

It matters to me as I have an interest in Ivy League baseball and he played at Princeton. He only started a handful of games in ’11 after starting a combined 50 the previous 2 years with a combined ERA of 4.00.
If he was not injured I thought it might be interesting to see the Red Sox sign him to a minor league contract–that would give the Sox potentially battery mates that are Ivy League grads.

If we sign Oswalt, Jackson, or Maholm the aren’t 6th starters in our rotation. If we’re getting Francis or Ohlendorf back I agree. However the only FA name I like is Pena and we might lead the league with .220 hitters.

Wasn’t suggesting the player would be the 6th best starter on the team, just that the team already has 5 starters in the rotation right now. To me, it’s more important to get Neil Walker out of the cleanup position than it is to try to find a slight upgrade over Kevin Correia.

I don’t think Oswalt would because he’s getting older and would probably rather just play for a contender, but if the money’s right, I see no reason why Jackson or Fielder wouldn’t join the team. Jackson would be a realistic signing, they were in on Jorge De La Rosa last season.

My request is someone who can keep their era under 4, can pitch at least 175 innings, and has at least double the strikeouts as they do walks in a given season. Almost forgot, they needed to have those statistics last year, not 10 years ago.

I wonder if the Pirates put together a five-six prospect package, they could snag Niese and Murphy away from the Mets….say Alderson, Curry, Welker, Gorkys, Crotta and Josh Harrison and see if they would bite. I would throw in Lorin, but he’s gone. These guys probably wont see the light of day with the Pirates, so you might as well get something for them before they become Rule V fodder or minor league free agents.

They are all crap. The Mets wouldn’t bite on all the extra guys on the 40 man considering none of them are prospects. They are all organizational depth (except for maybe Gorkys). Where would the Pirates play Murphy anyway? Walker is locked in at 2nd. The outfield has pleanty of depth with McCutchen, Tabata, Presley, and McLouth. McGehee is the back up plan at 3rd if Alvarez busts again. And he doesn’t have the power for first.

If they wanna try to get Neise, I think they’d have to part with Starling Marte.

So if I through in Marte, do we have a deal? The main cookie would be for Niese, anything else is extra.

As for Murphy, he came up in the organization at 3B and started in the bigs at 1b and LF. Go figure. He was being trained on the job at 2B, but as you said, Walker is there. Murphy is an athlete which fits into the style of person the Pirates look for and adds flexibility to the team. The Mets are on welfare so they may be willing to part with Murphy as a cost saving measure and to replenish the holes. They also have a glut of power hitting 2B in their farm system so they might be willing to part with Murphy.

If the Pirates pulled a deal and got Murphy, I would be happy that they aren’t getting another player who is attempting to make a comeback. I don’t think I would balk and say not enough power. It’s like Rodney Dangerfield kicking Katy Perry out of bed and saying, I’m not in the mood for brunettes today.

I don’t think many of those guys would interest the Mets at all. I would like to see them trade for a starting pitcher but I think they should set their sights higher than Niese if they are trading away quality prospects.

What would the Pirates realistically offer as a prospect haul for Jurrjens?

If the Braves do need to salary dump (I don’t think they will)- I think the best course of action would be to flat out trade JJ (the drop from JJ to Minor or Teheran isn’t that huge) for a good prospect haul.

If I’m Atlanta I want Chase d’Arnaud, Starling Marte, and a reliever. That would satisfy all of our needs aside from a 3B prospect(I doubt Alvarez could be available) and I believe there was talk of Marte being on the trading block earlier this year.

Tim, you need to learn to take what Frank Coonelly says with a grain of salt. Very little of what he says turns out to be true or accurate.

For example, documented comments from Coonelly over the past few years…..

“The change in atmosphere … will contribute to far greater success in 2008 and beyond.” – Coonelly (MLB) “We expect to win in 2009 and would not find it acceptable to attempt to build a team that will not win until 2010 or 2012.” – Coonelly (MLB) “2010 will be a much better year.” – Huntington (MLB) “… we believe we can win in 2010.” – Coonelly (MLB) “We’re looking to compete in 2012.” – Coonelly (Post-Gazette)

i see more of a jeff francis or joel pineiro signing here, someone in the 5 or 6 mil area who can b a real good number 4. they want to win but arent close enough for big aquisitions yet. is webb gonna be ready this year, he would be fantastic on a bounceback type contract.

How about signing Garland with the majority of the cash left to spend this offseason and get Cantu on a cheaper deal to provide insurance at both first and third. They could potentially employ a platoon at both first (Jones/Cantu) and third (Alvarez/McGehee). Ideally Alvarez doesn’t need a platoon partner but that could help him at first. I think that addresses (not necessarily solves) their two remaining needs for the offseason and I would argue could feasibly be done.

Would Edwin Jackson not be an ideal candidate for the Pirates? They want a solid pitcher and Jackson is just that, not to mention the market for him is relatively quite. He would be a solid pickup for them.

The problem is the expectation of going from worst to first. Sure, Tampa Bay did it in 2008 and Arizona did it in 2011, but most rebuilding teams get to .500 first, and go from there. The Pirates have made some good moves this winter, and if they can add another pitcher (or just keep Maholm), and a good hitter (i.e, Pena or Lee), the Pirates could possibly be a .500 team next year and hopefully be a contender by 2013.